BharateeyaOO.o: Enabling OpenOffice.org for India
2007-03-06
The BharateeyaOO.o team. From left to 権利: Garla Krishna Rao, Srinivas NK, Laxminarayana A, Praveen Reddy, Sonali Patil, RKVS Raman, Nobby Varghese and Mamatha Achuthan
It's been over five years since a little known group at NCST Bangalore, now CDAC, began work on translating OpenOffice.org into Indian languages. The BharateeyaOO.o 事業／計画（する）, along with its team, have come a long way in these years. In this interview with Mr. RKVS Raman, 上級の Staff Scientist at CDAC Bangalore, and 事業／計画（する） 調整者／コーディネーター, BharateeyaOO.o, I try to trace the 進化 of the 事業／計画（する）. I am not surprised when Mr. Raman 繰り返し言うs the cycle that many 政府 sponsored groups in several countries go through at one time or the other. Breaking the monotony of 伝統的な behind-の近くにd-doors 開発, and understanding the 利益s of community 開発, isn't 平易な. But as Mr. Raman illustrates, the 利益s are handsome.
Mayank Sharma: Let's start off with some background （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） on the group. How did the BharateeyaOO.o 事業／計画（する） （機の）カム to be? What 穴を開ける did it plug?
RKVS Raman: BharateeyaOO.o 事業／計画（する） was 開始する，打ち上げるd somewhere in June of 2001. BharateeyaOO.o began life a sister 事業／計画（する） to work 存在 done in CDAC Mumbai (以前 known as NCST) on INDIX. We started of with the 委任統治（領） to enable editing and （判決などを）下すing of Indian Scripts in OpenOffice.org. Things like コンビナート／複合体 Text Layout support, typing, 選択, caret movement, backspace/削除する, text break, mouse events were all broken at that time. The team at that time consisted of three people Ms. Shikha Pillai, Mr. Bhupesh Koli and Mr. N Velmani.
We were able to solve many of the 問題／発行するs but unfortunately 非，不，無 of these changes that we submitted upstream are 反映するd in today's builds because OpenOffice.org migrated to ICU as its layout engine in its later 見解／翻訳／版s. But yes that was the way we started our 出資／貢献 to OOo. Once we knew how to build OpenOffice.org, which itself was an 業績／成就 at that time, the next 論理（学）の step was to 試みる／企てる at localization of the build to Indian Languages. We took up 2 major Indian Languages, Hindi and Tamil. Translations of these languages were done by our technical team and not 翻訳家s, and it took us nearly 9 months to 完全にする the translations. The localization modules were also not perfect for OpenOffice.org 1.0. Those were really challenging times because we were doing new things with no 事前の 専門的知識 in these areas anywhere in India. Mailing 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）s were the only source of （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） and even there it used to take some 成果／努力 to try and make people understand about the 明確な／細部 problems that we 直面するd with Indic scripts.
Amazing. You have come a long way. How many people 与える／捧げる to BharateeyaOO.o today?
Today it is hard to 見積（る） how many people （不足などを）補う the BharateeyaOO.o team. BharateeyaOO.o is now a community which is not just 限られた／立憲的な to a group of people at CDAC Bangalore. 権利 from Ms. Shikha, Mr. Vijay Kumar, Mr. Deepu Abraham who are no longer associated with the organization, everybody who has been part of the team still remain part of this team and help us out whenever they find time. At CDAC Bangalore, the team consists of 8 members: Garla Krishna Rao, Laxminarayan A, Mamatha Achuthan, Nobby Varghese, Praveen Reddy, Sonali Patil, Srinivas NK, and RKVS Raman.
現在／一般に only a couple of us are 現実に 伴う／関わるd with the builds of OpenOffice.org while others have taken up 連合した areas of language enhancements to OpenOffice.org and open source 道具s 捕まらないで. This 含むs working on accessibility modules, （一定の）期間 checkers, dictionaries, 共同 枠組みs and （判決などを）下すing 問題／発行するs.
Today each member of the team 作品 に向かって making OpenOffice.org a world-class 製品 through her/his area of 研究 利益／興味.
Apart from us at CDAC, BharateeyaOO.o is supported by localization teams all over India, like the IndLinux group, Utkarsh, Punlinux and of course the GIST Group at CDAC Pune. BharateeyaOO.o is no longer just the 指名する of our group. It has become more of a brand 指名する for OpenOffice in India. If OpenOffice is in Indian Languages it is BharateeyaOO.o :-) . Today we also 目的（とする） to support groups from Sri Lanka and Pakistan for localizing OOo to their 地元のs and languages.
You've covered a lot of ground in these years. Could you 簡潔に について言及する the high-points in this duration? Any major milestones that you 始める，決める out to 達成する and have 遂行するd?
BharateeyaOO.o team has been blessed with perpetual high-points in its （期間が）わたる of more than 5 years of activity now. The first high-point undoubtedly was the 解放（する） of OpenOffice.org 1.0 in Hindi. Thats when we 開始する，打ち上げるd our website with the BharateeyaOO.o 指名する. The 指名する caught on slowly in the open source community in India. Since then we 港／避難所't looked 支援する.
We moved from Hindi to Tamil and from 見解／翻訳／版 1.0 to 1.1. The second major victory for us （機の）カム when a doctor from a 最初の／主要な health 中心 in 田舎の area of Maharashtra, Dr. Swapnil Lale （機の）カム 今後 to 供給する translations for Marathi language. That was when we felt really on 最高の，を越す because we had 後継するd in getting our first community 出資／貢献.
BharateeyaOO.o was started with the 目的（とする） to 供給する OpenOffice.org in all Indian Languages. After Hindi, Tamil and Marathi, things became a bit やめる for a couple of months since we were not getting 資源s for new languages. That was the time when the team size also 使い果たすd and we were 減ずるd to just a couple of 十分な time people, 事実上 all freshers, working on small modules. We 投資するd our time in building the first speech plugin for OpenOffice.org 1.1 Writer and also built a Transliterator plugin.
The big break （機の）カム in the form of an 適切な時期 that I got to 会合，会う our IT 大臣, Mr. Daya Nidhi Maran during one of his visits to CDAC. That was the time I got to show him the 能力s of OOo. He was pretty much impressed and asked us if we could 含む it in the 解放する／自由な Language CDs that he planned to 解放（する） for Tamil. 即時に we 認めるd the 適切な時期 we had and grabbed it with both 手渡すs.
The weeks that followed, were やめる 利益／興味ing. That was the first time my '研究 team' went into '生産／産物 work' like 一括ing, installers, 実験（する）ing, bundling and 令状ing 取り付け・設備 指示／教授／教育s. We had never ever done that before in our career. What we also managed to do was 一括 Linux 見解／翻訳／版s of several 使用／適用s into the CDs. This was perhaps one major move that 後継するd in many ways. Those in 力／強力にする and in position, for the first time got to realize that 使用／適用s were 利用できる on par on both proprietary and 解放する／自由な 壇・綱領・公約s. This has in a way helped 影響（力） some 政策 決定／判定勝ち（する）s に向かって open source and open 基準s.
The Tamil CDs 開始する，打ち上げる and subsequently the Hindi CDs 開始する，打ち上げる put the BharateeyaOO.o group in a different 軌道. The somewhat lesser known localization group called BharateeyaOO.o became a blue-注目する，もくろむd boy for the FOSS マスコミ. We got all sorts of adulations. TV Shows, 会合 with 大統領 of India, hitting newspaper 前線 page, we've seen it all.
But more than this hoopla, the main 客観的な of the team, to bring OpenOffice to all Indian languages, is today getting realized. We still have some way to go, but yes, we are on the path.
You について言及する that several 事業／計画（する）s 与える／捧げる to BharateeyaOO.o. But has the 状況／情勢 been rosy all along? I mean, have people from the open source 切り開く／タクシー／不正アクセスing community always come 今後 to help, にもかかわらず the BharateeyaOO.o 事業／計画（する） 存在 run by a 政府 会・原則?
BharateeyaOO.o group was born with the understanding that it will be working with open-source 科学（工学）技術s. We at NCST (then), were in no way constrained to think about any 商業の angle to the 研究 activities that we undertook. But perhaps that was one of the first instances when some "Indian 政府" 研究 group was 活発に trying to make 出資／貢献s to open-source code. It was a learning 過程 for us 同様に. Submitting bugs and patches 支援する on to OpenOffice.org community 場所／位置 was all new to us since we were trained to work in small 孤立するd groups before that. We never looked at making a community presence as one of the 客観的なs then. What we did was put all our source and work on our 場所／位置 and thought that our 職業 was done.
But it was not so. And 自然に we were looked 負かす／撃墜する by the Indian open source localization community on more than one occasion. I still remember the flak that we drew because of our na?vity. Shikha understood the 状況／情勢 and took 成果／努力s to reach out to the community. That was the way we 橋（渡しをする）d some of the gap.
As far as the group was 関心d, we never had any 問題／発行するs about talking 公然と about our work. In fact, we were encouraged to do so. It was only a culture change that was necessary. We needed to get out of our cocoons--研究員s are a pretty reserved lot--and talk to people, 伴う／関わる in discussions over IRC and mailing 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）s and make noise about things that we were doing. It was this culture that was absent 以前.
Once we developed that habit of speaking to people, we realized that the localization groups were more than eager to help us grow. I already told you about Dr. Swapnil Lale's 出資／貢献. Utkarsh was another group which chipped in with Gujarati translations. We also helped out Punlinux group and the 解放する／自由な ソフトウェア 創立／基礎's Andhra Pradesh 一時期／支部 helped us with Telugu.
We have today assumed the 役割 of a convenient 会合 point for OOo activities in India. Mr. Vijay Kumar who was part of our team, is the Indic Native Language Group 調整者／コーディネーター, which supports new localization groups that 試みる／企てる to localize OpenOffice.org. Still there might be some activities on OOo that might be going in India without our knowledge but by and large we have 合併するd ourselves 井戸／弁護士席 into the FOSS community. Today we fashion ourselves as part of that large FOSS community when it comes to OOo rather than as part of CDAC.
You touch upon a few localization 問題／発行するs. For people who are not aware, could you discuss some of the 問題／発行するs 伴う／関わるd with 計算するing in localized languages? Has the 状況／情勢 改善するd since the time you started out?
The 問題／発行するs in 計算するing in 地元の languages are all 井戸／弁護士席 known now. The 問題／発行するs about encoding, fonts, （判決などを）下すing, input methods and 標準化 of terminologies is all 井戸／弁護士席 known. I don't want to rehash on the 問題／発行するs per se.
But what I would definitely like to give is a big たいまつ of hope. Things are definitely looking up. We have 可決する・採択するd Unicode for our encoding 目的s. There are minor glitches but things are moving 今後 にもかかわらず. OpenType fonts are 存在 made 利用できる through 解放する／自由な Language CDs and it is only a 事柄 of time before the contributors give up their final 支配（する）／統制する over it and make it GPL. So fonts are 利用できる if needed. （判決などを）下すing 問題／発行するs are also more or いっそう少なく getting solved with newer 見解／翻訳／版s of International 構成要素s for Unicode (ICU) and Pango. We at BharateeyaOO.o also work に向かって making ICU perfect in its 扱うing of Indic scripts. I am looking at a window of a 最大限 of about 6-9 months for solving all （判決などを）下すing 問題／発行するs in Linux and OOo. The FOSS community are working on the Smart ありふれた Input Method (SCIM) 壇・綱領・公約 and other input 枠組みs and input methods are getting やめる stable on Linux. They were always stable on Windows.
Terminologies are still an area of 審議. And I 本人自身で believe it will take some time for people to come to 条件 with the way we 演説（する）／住所 さまざまな things in ソフトウェア in our languages. Central 政府 and some 明言する／公表する language 団体／死体s are working に向かって 標準化 of terminologies. So at this 行う／開催する／段階 the 戦略 that we have 可決する・採択するd is to give people something to start with. We don't 保証（人） that the translations are 正確な and unambiguous but we are sure that these translations will definitely be talked about, いつかs 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がるd and いつかs 非難するd. We are 決定するd to 選ぶ up threads from there and they'll be 反映するd in our 未来 見解／翻訳／版s.
In fact Mr. Mahesh Kulkarni, the 長，率いる of GIST group at CDAC Pune is of the opinion that even the translations could be individual-明確な／細部 and it should be 平易な enough for the end-使用者 to change the 条件 used as per her/his preferences. So we do have some way to go in that area. All is not hunky-dory yet.
So what's the 現在の status of the 事業／計画（する）? How many languages are supported? Have all changes been submitted upstream 同様に?
Today as it stands, BharateeyaOO.o has 完全にするd localization of OOo in about 15 languages in its labs, of which about 5 are community supported. These languages are, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Marathi, Mythili, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.
Of these about 10 languages have already been submitted upstream as patches. OOo 2.1 has support for about 10 languages in its source. Our 目的（とする） is to 完全にする OOo in all 22 scheduled Indian languages by December 2007 and we are bang on schedule.
That's 広大な／多数の／重要な. From what I know, you are not 限られた／立憲的な to just localizing OpenOffice.org. Could you 簡潔に 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） the other 事業／計画（する）s the group is 伴う／関わるd in?
The BharateeyaOO.o team 作品 on "Language 科学（工学）技術s" and OpenOffice.org happens to be one of the 製品s which ひどく 影響（力）s our work and gives us direction. We are looking at Indic Language enabling the operating system on the whole and so we work in all areas 関心d.
One of the other main area in which the group spends its time is Speech 科学（工学）技術. We have been able to come up with pretty usable ideas in that area and have already made the binary 見解／翻訳／版s 利用できる for some time now. We are waiting for 是認 from 力／強力にするs-that-be to GPL it. 推定する／予想する some important 告示s soon :-) .
Apart from OOo, we've localized Firefox, Thunderbird and Gaim 同様に. In fact it was this combination of localized open-source 道具s that has impressed people. Localized 見解／翻訳／版s of OOo would have definitely made an 衝撃 but to 完全にする the picture, we needed to （問題を）取り上げる these 道具s too so that people do start believing that open source has some really serious 道具s for end 使用者s. All these 道具s have been localized to 10 Indian Languages and we 推定する／予想する to upstream them by this month end.
The other areas in which we 活発に 研究 are ollaborative 枠組みs, Gesture Based Input Methods, Handwriting 承認, Semantic Web, Social 計算するing, and （判決などを）下すing Engines.
Each person in my team 作品 in a different 研究 area and OpenOffice.org is perhaps one ありふれた 利益／興味 for all of us, where we 骨折って進む in our findings to help make OOo a world-class 製品.
Fantastic. I'd like to の近くに this interview with your short-称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語 同様に as long-称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語 goals?
Our short 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語 goals are simple and long 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語 are very ambitious.
Short 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語 goals 含む 完全にする localization of OOo, Firefox, Thunderbird and Gaim and 解放（する） them for public feedback; solve all Indic script （判決などを）下すing 問題／発行するs on the Linux 壇・綱領・公約; create 使用者-friendly input methods for Indic scripts; 供給する basic accessibility support in all Indian Languages, and help the NRCFOSS centre with Indic 関係のある 問題／発行するs in their BOSS Linux 配当.
Long 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語 goals 伴う／関わる 熟考する／考慮するing the cultural 面s of Indic 計算するing; create sturdy speech 承認 engines for Indian languages; continuously create/調査する avenues for wide 採択 of FOSS in さまざまな 部門s by active 昇進／宣伝 and support, and to become an 器具 in the 増殖 of ICT in 田舎の and underprivileged areas.
Thank you for your time, Mr. Raman.
Return to Articles
